The 29-year-old forward scored his second goal of the season shortly after taking a Morgan Rielly shot off his hand. As it turns out, it will put him out for the rest of the month at least.

Toronto will be without one of their top centres for the time being, which will force some uncommon forward lines to take place. Whether that means moving Alexander Kerfoot up to one of the top-six spots, or having another play slotted in beside Trevor Moore and Mitch Marner — time will tell.

The Leafs face the Bruins for the first time this season on Saturday, a game of massive importance to see how the two rank against each other as they battle for the Atlantic Division title and hope to not face eachother in the playoffs yet again.

Other key games that Tavares will most likely miss is the Oct. 26 matchup against the Canadiens, the dominant San Jose Sharks visiting Toronto on Oct. 25, and another game against the Bruins on Oct. 22.

This will prove to be a massive test for this current core of Leafs forwards. Without the stable top-six centre, a lot of depth players will have to step up to take on a bigger task.

Tavares has three goals and seven points through eight games this season.